There has been a lot of discussion on the direction Labour is heading and the direction it should go. There have been some very valuable contributions by Mike Smith, Rob Salmond, Jordan Carter and Josie Pagani.

I don’t have much to add to this other than, I think, they are having the wrong conversation. There are few votes in going left and few votes in pitching to the centre in the way we are doing now. People vote for a myriad of reasons that can’t be confined to a linear spectrum.

I hear activists tell me over beer after collecting signatures that we need to shift to the left to pick up the non-voters that stayed home. I am undoubtedly of the view that this is wrong. As Rob Salmond points out no one has produced any evidence to suggest that this would be a vote winning strategy or that those who stay home do so because our policies won’t help them or that their views differ from the “centre”. The act of voting or not is much more complicated than that.

However, similarly, I am adamant that there are no votes in pitching to the centre in the way Shearer is doing now and the way Pagani et al want. It is inauthentic and meaningless.

You can’t get people to think about policy unless they buy into the project. What is missing from Shearer at the moment is the articulation of Labour values. The articulation of a vision. The articulation of a narrative about where we are, where we are going and how Labour’s values best realise that. Only once you get buy in on that can you start getting buy in on how you get there. If approached this way- I think you will start seeing the centre and some of those who did not vote come with (note not to) Labour.

Without this, it’s just two products competing for an otherwise meaningless act in three years time. Voters want to know that we get them. We understand their struggles and successes; that we are part of their personal journeys; that we understand their lives. People don’t want silver bullets or lists of policies. Our voters just want to know we’ve got their back: that our future is their future, that our guiding values are theirs. Only a strong narrative can do that. Everything else is important: but only insofar as it contributes to the sense people have of you. Policies are important. But you can’t replace a narrative with lists of policies or dog whistles.

Labour needs buy in to the project. Not inauthentic sound bites to the perceived views of a entirely made up segment of the population. The centre is a very unhelpful construction; it’s really intelligent people with alot more to offer than a nod to the old beneficiary bash. “Centre voters” have very different and contradictory opinions on a range of issues pretending they are this homogeneous group to be placated by a few remarks just highlights how out of touch our leaders are.

But just think of the differences between the two ends of your alimentary canal. At one end you have your face screwed in knot as you spit out your latest inane bullshit at the left.. At the other you have the relaxation as you unpucker your bowels and drop some fertilizer.

Openness is like that latter sensation – it is smelly, relaxing, but doesn’t cause ulcers, you die if you don’t do it, and ultimately fertilizes honest debate.

Ah.. Ok honest debate – another concept you will have problems with. The difference between that and doing meaningless sniping is…..

Voters want to know that we get them. We understand their struggles and successes; that we are part of their personal journeys; that we understand their lives. People don’t want silver bullets or lists of policies. Our voters just want to know we’ve got their back: that our future is their future, that our guiding values are theirs. Only a strong narrative can do that.

A vision for the future eh?

Well, we should say something about green, sustainable growth, something about making the country better for the next generation, something about how important children are and educating them, something about giving people a hand up not a hand out, something about not spending beyond our means, something else about how its important to be a supporter of global free markets and wealth creation for all, and for the real coup de grace, a national plan for how we win hosting rights for the Rugby World Cup 2029.

That’s a vision for the future we can all buy into and turn out to vote for. Huzzzah!

Now a lot of it seems awfully familiar, I accept that, but if we can come up with some new packaging for the messaging, it could work very well. The internal polling we are doing tells us its the message people want. Now deliver it and show them leadership! (/irony)

PS let me assure you as a future Minister of the Crown on $220K pa (+ package) I will never fell isolated from the plight of those trying to get by on $18K pa, and who have to fight uphill everyday against a political economic slope of financial capitalism that they do not even begin to understand.

In fact, why don’t I just hang out with the Chamber of Commerce crowd, they hold much better evening functions than the Sallies.

Aspirational “vision” speeches are meaningless without explaining how you propose to get there.
Shearer has been producing little other than this kind of waffle.
Why should anyone trust “values” rhetoric if it’s not backed up with a a clear map. And how can Labour counter National’s argument that Labour’s vision will bankrupt the country without hard facts?

It’s just another patronising version of “trust us – we know what we’re doing”.
But most people don’t trust Labour actually, and it will take substance to change the perception, not more waffle.

Why should anyone trust “values” rhetoric if it’s not backed up with a a clear map.

Why should anyone trust anyone who suddenly starts spouting “values” rhetoric, after the longest time of doing and saying anything but? I would personally find it suspicious, you know like they suddenly want something from me…

Bang on this is exactly the problem. People have been lied to so often that they want to know the ‘how’. How are you going to do it. Show me the steps that common sense dictates you might be on the right path.

When National came out with their vison or 12 goals or whatever it was earlier this year expecting the response to be all oohs and aaahs from an adoring public saying these guys are on the right track, they have goals. Thats not what happened. They got slammed all over the place with people saying thats nice but ‘how!’ how are you going to do it!

That is what Shearer should have done, when he became leader. He had every opportunity, with his early speeches, to articulate a vision.

He didn’t, because there’s no vision, and he can’t articulate.

It’s too late now. There was goodwill then, now it’s gone (and not just from Labour activists – nobody takes him seriously now). Any new “narrative” will be treated with suspicion. As you say, “inauthentic and meaningless.”

I hope the next leader takes your advice, on day one. I hope that day is soon.

No its not too late – you get on with the job of determining it asap and the steps on how to get there. Then you announce it and when people ask why it took so long you say because it needed some serious thought to what it should be and we needed to talk to the people of New Zealand so that we can get back to the primary principle of a representative democracy that has been ignored for such a long time by both this National government and some previous Labour govts. The principle that we are your elected representatives here to represent you. We are here to ensure that NewZealand is a better place in the future for all New Zealanders.

Here’s where we are today …. problems
Here’s the vision… where we are going to be 3, 6, 10, 20 years
Here’s how we are going to achieve it.
3, 6, 10, 20 years

You’ll wipe the floor with any other party that won’t have seen it coming and won’t have a clear vision. Then all you have to do is do what you said you would and listen to the people along the way.

It will also provide a valid answer for those that want to discuss shearer being invisible for this long.

Jimmy canI suggest that the most important characteristics that a party leader must have are vision and passion?

Academic debates about the middle and working out how to triangulate issues is fine from an academic point of view but if a leader does not instil passion then the activists work a bit less and the swinging voters are more inclined to stay at home.

Just think about the most successful leaders Labour has had, Savage, Kirk, Lange and Clark. Each of them instilled passion and each had a strong vision.

Lange may be the most telling example. Despite leading a right wing Labour Government his oration gave his Government a veneer of left wing respectability and carried them through a most unusual election result in 1987.

So however it happens the Labour Party needs to give activists and voters a reason to take note and engage.

Jimmy can I suggest that the most important characteristics that a party leader must have are vision and passion?

I’m not so sure… While people are expecting Shearer to deliver a vision to give people the impetus to support and vote, much of what being an opposition party gets left behind. In my opinion, Labour need to engage with the public by having a clear and precise dialog that points out where National is going wrong, not deliver visions of the future that are met with skepticism from many on the left and right alike.

One problem is that the current Labour party is being blamed for what Nationals neoliberal agenda is causing… A very clever manipulation that’s been employed by rightwing spin-doctors. Labour need to distance themselves from the current agenda, and the best way to do that is to go on the attack.

Labour need to distance themselves from the current agenda, and the best way to do that is to go on the attack.

Well, why not leave it to the Greens and Winston, they really do seem better at it. It was pointed out by someone that the Greens, Winston AND ACT got their party’s official responses to the MMP recommendations way faster than Labour did.

There is that, but it would seem more probable that Shearer’s decision to not engage in so-called gotcha politics is sometimes leaving Labours ammo out of the gun. It’s not as if National isn’t giving them enough targets to shoot at either, it’s a conscious decision to try and appear like the nice guy, which in my opinion is just letting Nact off the hook. Politics isn’t about being nice, and choosing not to engage isn’t an effective strategy against Keys ever thinning Teflon exterior… It’s better for Labour to gain credibility by pointing out National has none.

You can’t get people to think about policy unless they buy into the project. What is missing from Shearer at the moment is the articulation of Labour values. The articulation of a vision. The articulation of a narrative about where we are, where we are going and how Labour’s values best realise that. Only once you get buy in on that can you start getting buy in on how you get there. If approached this way- I think you will start seeing the centre and some of those who did not vote come with (note not to) Labour

I think you are on the money with this. I spoke to an influential Labour MP and said the reason many don’t vote is that they are disillusioned with the system. It is not working for them. All they see is that we shift a couple of degrees to the Right and then a couple of degrees to the Left every few years but nothing really changes. The real problems facing society never get fixed or even close to being fixed. That there is no vision for people people to buy into.. and I don’t mean vote for us and we’ll make the world a better place. I mean Here’s our 3 year, 6 year, 10 and even 20 year plan. This is our vision and this is how we are going to get there and why it will work.
Something that people can understand, buy into and believe in.

To his credit he agreed people were disengaged from the system and were becoming increasingly of the opinion that politics is something that is done to them rather than something they are apart of. He did not think that a long term vision was required as most people were just focussed on the immediate problems.

“What is missing from Shearer at the moment is the articulation of Labour values.”

Sure, but how can Labour articulate these when they don’t even know what they are? Labour’s more than lost on this front. Shearer’s sickness beneficiary blunder epitomises this. Until Labour accepts it must provide a voice for those who cannot participate in our wage-based economy and stop pandering to the unions’ ambivalence towards beneficiaries they will remain the most obvious coalition partner for the National Party which in practical terms means continuing as the Opposition followed by relegation to merely remaining in opposition.

I quite like the direction Shearers taking, it seems to me that for a very long time the Labour party has been lumping low-paid workers with the unemployed.

By making a stake in the ground and saying we support low-paid workers and the sacrifices they make and will work hard to weed out the shirkers is a well needed change and will resonate with kiwis around the country

Go fuck yourself big brave man behind a keyboard. They’re two separate paragraphs which means two separate statements which means I’m not saying all unemployed are shirkers, I’m saying that (hopefully) Labour will actively work to deal to the shirkers that are out there.

Go have yourself another coffee and stop trying to frame someone elses viewpoint in a manner that suits you.

CV, it’s like you’re in my head right now, stealing my thoughts. Fucking love how the “left” have started picking up the right’s “but I never said all [group] were [junkies/unfit parents/lazy/evil/bludgers], I just said some were! Over and over and over!”

……And a by product of a system that has reached a level of technological advancement that can easily discard a worker but a system that has not evolved so that the discarded worker does not need to go and find another job.

This is not the situation for all workers but none the less it is an serious flaw in the system that will only grow as we grow tecnologically.

“…it seems to me that for a very long time the Labour party has been lumping low-paid workers with the unemployed.”

It may have seemed like that to you but from 1999 Labour’s welfare policies have been indistinguishable from National’s, and in some cases more like ACT’s. Shearer’s finally confirmed nothing’s changed.

a recently as 2007 labour completed their intensive fraud investigation into benefits, a point lost on many when nats crow about targetting these so called offenders. The number of shirkers is actually tiny, but that wld make some people have to accept there is some societal respobsibility instead of blaming non existing bludgers.

Need i remibd you all of my earlier story of wealthy family encouraging son to borrow full amount on student loan to fund a home for himself in three years. None so smug and self righteoys as the anti bene brigade.

By making a stake in the ground and saying we support low-paid workers and the sacrifices they make and will work hard to weed out the shirkers is a well needed change and will resonate with kiwis around the country

They’re not shirkers but people who have been thrown on the scrap heap by a failing socio-economic paradigm.

A neo-liberal driven paradigm that says we must open our country to internationally deregulated competition so that our manufacturing sector eventually shrinks to below a 5% capacity to make anything at all, as it cannot compete without the reintroduction of tariffs and quotas so we could once again protect locally producing industry and the jobs and wealth that that would circulate throughout our economy.
NZ is slowly becoming a social and economic wasteground of failed economic policies derived from neo-liberalism and put into effect through both National and Labour governments support of those policies that are cemented in via the IMF, WTO and the WB.

How about we are outraged at taking from low-paid workers and giving it to the wealthy?

Low-paid workers pay a huge amount of their income in taxes: 15% GST, petrol taxes, rates (which landlords pass on), high ACC levies (which are a lot higher if you work with you body than sit at a desk), income taxes, etc.

I’m going to Bastion Point this weekend, put my ear to the ground, and hear if Mickey Savage is turning over in his grave! He’s probably on spin cycle!

“You can’t get people to think about policy unless they buy into the project. What is missing from Shearer at the moment is the articulation of Labour values. The articulation of a vision. The articulation of a narrative about where we are, where we are going and how Labour’s values best realise that. Only once you get buy in on that can you start getting buy in on how you get there. If approached this way- I think you will start seeing the centre and some of those who did not vote come with (note not to) Labour.”

Of all the posts I’ve read, this one nails it for me. It articulates for me what the actual issue is. It’s not a case of build it and they will come but if voters have a clear sense of your principles, they will come to you with a tolerance for the fringes of your policies. I think that may be a little earnest, but as a basic, I can’t see any other way to start.

Analysis of those who voted and those who didn’t, who is left, who is right, who is centre, what centre is – none of that matters if you can’t establish clearly, a sense within voters that they know who you are first. Labour must offer positive alternatives based on principle, not positions in the negative and for me the Grey Power speech was that low point.

I don’t blame Shearer, I don’t blame anyone, for Labour’s current position because that’s pointless unless there’s a plan to fix it – fixing it for me, at least in the first instance, would see Shearer lead from the front and for him to trust his instincts and his own words rather than second guess himself.

For all the gazing in to the future anyone can do, it must be… to do what you must do… with the world as it is now… and, for how you want it to be. It should not be about how you think it might be… and, then to try and get ahead of it. This post proposes that the conversation is not the right conversation, I agree. Of all the things I have seen here, the question of whether voters see themselves reflected in Labour is the important first-question.

I think the answer is still “no” at the moment, but the solution is not in shifting to where Labour thinks the majority of them are because that is ever-fluid, it is to bring them to where Labour is. This to me is where the conflict is being created by some elements of the current approach, it’s simply that so many don’t know where Labour is.

Labour must not only say what it wants to achieve, but how it will achieve it. The positive alternatives are missing such as in the Grey Power speech in my view. The things Labour says it will do have to be within reach of people, they have to be able to touch it, know it’s real and that it will make their life better. Importantly though, people need to trust Labour will work to do it.

@ Kaine, if I had a dollar for every time I have read over recent weeks mention of “Labour values” and “Labour principles” … Can you clearly articulate these for me, please, perhaps in the context of your call for “positive alternatives”. A few examples of these alternatives would be nice, too.

@Tom, don’t get me wrong, I’m not stargazing either… But, Labour’s values include inclusiveness for example, say what it means, say how that translates into what it is we want to achieve by being in government. I mean for me, the principles/values are there already but there’s a disconnect because the focus is on policies that resonate, rather than – by some views – demonstrate consistency with the principle/value.

Positive alternative – an opposition must oppose, clearly. But by opposing something, there should be a clear plan of what the alternative is. “Tax Cuts for the rich”, what’s Labour’s alternative, be clear, be honest. “No Asset Sales”, what’s Labour going to do in response to those if it becomes government? “Where are the jobs”, what’s Labour’s plan to encourage job growth? “National is bad”, how’s Labour better?

@ Kaine, with respect, you have evaded the question. Can you please explain to me what are the “Labour values” and “Labour principles” you and others regularly refer to? You say they “are there” so can we see them please?

The only thing I would add to what Dancerwaitakere said is “inclusion” but off the top of my head, that’s a familiar list of things. Tom, the things I would point to include marriage equality, raising the minimum wage, trade training, broader student support, investment in R&D, capital gains tax, extensions to paid parental leave, mondayisation of public holidays, using dividends from state owned assets… these are all positive alternatives.

If you’re asking me to come up with a list of new ones on my own, I’d say no one person has the answer and there would be better ideas than mine but reinvesting in the cullen fund, addressing inequality that came about through an increase to GST, redirecting resource in to trade training, taking advantage of clean technology alongside a programme to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and on and on.

The broader package of policies though, have to be linked to a clear sense of why they’re important to Labour. Take National for example, you may not agree with them but their view is that low taxation allows individuals to make decisions about how to use their own money because they will make better decisions than government. I don’t necessarily agree and think there is a balance. Take the Greens, “Drill it, mine it, sell it, cut it” Clean Rivers, Safe Communities and on and on.

If you have better ideas, then put them out but in saying we have heard enough about a demand for vision, all we are doing is criticising Labour for doing the same thing we choose not to do at the same time.

It’s just my view and I accept it’s one of many, and like I said, I agree with the post and what it says. It resonates with me well, but without any collective sense of direction both in Parliament and amongst supporters (members or not), we may as well talk about the international space station as a solution to global warming.

@ Kaine, thanks for the list of policies, but what I was after were Labour values and Labour priniciples. I guessed you could not articulate them. The Labour Party website says:

The Labour Party accepts the following democratic socialist principles –

• All political authority comes from the people by democratic means including universal suffrage, regular and free elections with a secret ballot.

• The natural resources of New Zealand belong to all the people and these resources, and in particular non-renewable resources, should be managed for the benefit of all, including future generations.

• All people should have equal access to all social, economic, cultural, political and legal spheres, regardless of wealth or social position, and continuing participation in the democratic process.

• Co-operation, rather than competition, should be the main governing factor in economic relations, in order that a greater amount and a just distribution of wealth can be ensured.

• All people are entitled to dignity, self-respect and the opportunity to work.

• All people, either individually or in groups, may own wealth or property for their own use, but in any conflict of interest people are always more important than property and the state must ensure a just distribution of wealth.

• The Treaty of Waitangi is the founding document of New Zealand and that the Treaty should be honoured in government, society and the family.

• Peace and social justice should be promoted throughout the world by international co-operation and mutual respect.

Voters don’t want to hear any of that shit. What we want is for it to actually be true. So stop trying to figure out how we’d like our shit sandwich wrapped and get to work on making a better fucking sandwich.

When we see you doing that – really doing it – we’ll come running to join you and you won’t need your meaningless platitudes and branding exercises.

‘Value speak’ is just bureaucratic bullshit.
The only value of value is the value of the commodities produced by the working class.
Whoever lives off the bulk of that expropriated value can pay all the toadies and hangers on to articulate conversations about spurious values while depriving said class of the value of its labour.
The Labour Party is misnamed, it is speaking for those who appropriate value not those who create it.

I finally got around to listening to Josie Pagani on radio NZ from Monday, and she is full of nonsense, but a very particular nonsense that reflects the wider abandonment of socialism in Labour in favour of faction driven post-modern relativism. I think Josie Pagani (and by extension, certain advisors who have Shearer’s ear) is nothing more than a not very good post-modernist in a party founded on principles of modernity and that she is dimly aware her world view is instinctively hostile to. Socialism – a supremely modernist creation – believes science establishes facts, political theory establishes the social state, that secularism usurps religion, and in this country this expressed itself in our welfare state. Pagani implicitly rejects this rational approach as obsolete modernism in her ever so clever post-modernist world. This is why IMHO she is resistant to class based analysis – she has no time of the old paradigm of the rich, the middle class and the working class. She sees the world instead as the information elite, the middle class and an underclass. In her world, the information elite craft the message for the millions of individual middle class realities and the underclass are ignored. Gone for Josie is the simple socialist focus on the wants of the poor and working class complete with objective measures of their needs; Instead there is a kaleidoscope of competing interests and wants some of which – such as feminism and biculturalism – seek to reject as patriarchal or culturally inappropriate scientific fact they don’t agree with and want to replace class with cybernetics as an explanation of the organisation of society.

The trouble is politics, like war, is defiantly anti post-modernist. Pagani’s belief that modern politics is fundamentally post-modern is simply wrong, and it is proven wrong every time it comes into contact with objective reality. Pagani sounds like an blathering idiot completely devoid of common sense because she is. When confronted by the unapologetic realpolitik of the economic/demographic divide and conquer politics of the hollow men she has no real answer, as Hooten showed when he wiped the floor with her. When confronted by the ugly intrusion of objective reality in the form of angry activists she retreats into the denial of cognitive dissonance.

Stripping politics of innate meaning and reducing it to merely debating the semantics needed to frame a huge number of individual (middle class) realities is a form of political nihilism that is consuming Labour from the top down. It is why we don’t see an articulation of Labour values – Labour values are modernist, scorned by the post-modernists like Pagani – or a Labour vision, since a political vision is futile when it can be legitimately interpreted in as many ways as it has readers or listeners.

In short, Labour needs to re-assert the fact it is modernist party committed to certain ideas and ways of interpreting the world. When the institutional culture again reflects the values that led to the party being created in the first place, the articulation of those values will come naturally and the vision will be the cause and the effect of policy.

Labour need to define inequality as the prime issue. They must start pointing out that rich people are the problem, not the solution. Its OK to denounce greed, Labour should not be encouraging greed. The Occupy movement put inequality into the mainstream discourse, now is an opportunity which has been provided by the people…Labour are watching the boat sail by.
Accumulating resources such as housing is a burden on us all and should be prevented.
Labour are afraid of the wealthy, Labour used to challenge them, now they allow them to thrive.

Housing and jobs. As in, many people can’t get a decent job and can’t afford to buy a house.

If Labour made a real attempt at tackling those issues, they’d be voted in with a landslide. But, just like National, Labour have some watered-down, piss weak tinkering around the edges crap passing as policy on these issues.

Leaving it to the market to fix is a right-wing solution. The left wing solution is active intervention. The Government building houses and creating jobs.

Labour bought the right-wing way of doing things, where the state is hands off and just tries to prod private enterprise gently in the guts with the tip of their pinky finger.

Yep. Darkhorse had an interesting graph about the decline of the State and the subsequent rise in law-making, over the past 15 years. Whereas once a Minister would instruct the relevant agency of state to deliver something, now Parliament has to pass a law, invariably, a very badly written law, that in all probability, will hardly be used.

I think there’s way too much expectation that Labour can win more votes if only they can articulate their position more clearly. I think that most people who vote already know which side of the left/right divide they sit on. The reason so many people didn’t vote at the last election in my opinion is because they couldn’t be bothered thinking. The mainstream media guided those non-thinkers to believe that Goff was a loser and therefore anyone voting for Labour would be a loser by association. Just like McDonald’s advertising gets little kids to believe anything associated with McDonald’s must automatically be delicious, the MSM got people to believe anything associated with Labour is naff. Just before the last election I met someone who could be described as your typical ‘Waitakere Man’, not overly articulate, but skilled and reasonably intelligent. We got talking about the up coming election – he said he used to vote Labour but this time was voting for National. I asked him why, and he answered as though it was all perfectly logical …”Well you wouldn’t vote for Goff would you?”. I asked him why not and he just could not frame one single reason why not. Then I pointed out that voting for National would be a vote for asset sales. He was genuinely nonplussed at that, and said “but he (Key) wouldn’t go ahead if we didn’t want asset sales would he?” This guy simply could not join the dots because he’d been sold a message (“Key is cool, Goff is a loser”) and he hadn’t bothered to think further about it. Anyway, I met him again after the election and asked him if he voted for National. He said he didn’t bother voting at all in the end…

Labour, or whatever replaces it, must create solidarity among the working and non-working poor. After all, both groups live in poverty because of the defects of modern capitalism and both will benefit from its reform (not eradication, IMHO). Labour has managed to do this, very successfully, before (1935-1949) and intermittently thereafter. For a start, I reckon the bureaucracy must be overhauled (repeal the State Sector Act) so that the “poor” (not sure how to define the term but anyone earning less than me will do for now) can have some confidence that public servants will actually serve them, rather than themselves and the elite. Ministers must be accountable to the people for the performance of their officials and must be given powers sack or discipline those who won’t do what they are told.

“Should politicians lead political debate or follow it?
Do political parties best serve democracy by ‘listening to the people’ or by articulating their own vision?
These are two distinct approaches to the role of party politics, and it’s worth keeping them in mind when following the ongoing online discussion over Labour’s political direction.
…..
The different political approaches boil down, according to political scientists, to whether politicians and parties should be ‘preference-shapers’ or ‘preference-takers’. Much of the debate around the Labour Party – and all New Zealand parties – occurs within a mindset that assumes that political parties are ‘hostages’ of the fixed ideological preferences of voters. Rob Salmond epitomises this, as does the Pagani approach.
….
‘You can’t get people to think about policy unless they buy into the project. What is missing from Shearer at the moment is the articulation of Labour values. The articulation of a vision’ .”

Yeah man. Goff in the last 3-4 months put in a Herculean effort, against an unfriendly media and too many disloyal MPs; he could speak and hold a crowd then go outside and kick ass in front of the TV cameras. It was a mistake for him to step down as quickly as he did IMO.

In the days after the election I expressed my disappointment here that sticking with Goff didn’t seem to be an option on the table. He really did step up for the election, and looked like he finally had Key figured out. It’s not easy to beat someone who doesn’t play by the rules, but with another 3 years he could have made that transparent tool his bitch. Maybe. Or maybe Shearer will learn by 2014, maybe, he’s not been so convincing so far.

Emailed goff and told him that. Got a standard reply from his secretary. Finally rescinded my membership. Labour aint the party for me. Work full time. Got a house mortgage kids and a fulltime disability. No help from the state for the last year and I’m glad I got myself going again felon the depressive funk I was in.

This blabour party under shearer sucks. It’s you either vote a shyster or a clam.

What Labour needs is someone who can speak from their heart, from their gut about things they passionately believe in. Disembodied men in suits prattling on something that they think the voters might go for turns off everyone. Let’s have some passion and anger, and some courage to make the real changes that are desperately needed. I’d follow them – boots an all.

“You can’t get people to think about policy unless they buy into the project. What is missing from Shearer at the moment is the articulation of Labour values. The articulation of a vision. The articulation of a narrative about where we are, where we are going and how Labour’s values best realise that. Only once you get buy in on that can you start getting buy in on how you get there. If approached this way- I think you will start seeing the centre and some of those who did not vote come with (note not to) Labour.”

I agree and this is what Cunliffe has been doing in his recent speeches.

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Allow me to share a puzzle. Public sector outsourcing (a.k.a. ‘contracting out’) has been increasing in recent decades. It is not the same as ‘privatisation’ because the government retains the role as a funder but it outsources the task to… ...

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Last Thursday, Labour and National presented their thoughts on the 2014 election to Parliament.On Labour’s side, there was an inevitable and welcome move away from linking enrolment and benefit eligibility. Good, and phew.On National’s side, the disturbing suggestions coming from… ...

Last Thursday, Labour and National presented their thoughts on the 2014 election to Parliament.On Labour’s side, there was an inevitable and welcome move away from linking enrolment and benefit eligibility. Good, and phew.On National’s side, the disturbing suggestions coming from… ...

Last Thursday, Labour and National presented their thoughts on the 2014 election to Parliament.On Labour’s side, there was an inevitable and welcome move away from linking enrolment and benefit eligibility. Good, and phew.On National’s side, the disturbing suggestions coming from… ...

. . Our country has been described as “awash by alcohol” by more than one observer. In New Zealand, buying alcohol is easier than buying a car fuse at a petrol station. (I know this, I’ve tried.) On Tuesday 29… ...

Every six months the Ministry of Transport produce a monitoring report on how Auckland is performing against the targets the government set for work to start prior to 2020 on the City Rail Link. As a reminder On 28 June… ...

Even in this dark hour for the TPP, the secrecy farce continues. On RNZ this morning, Trade Minister Tim Groser said he looks forward to the day when he can take the covers off, and show New Zealand what a… ...

Column – Gordon Campbell Even in this dark hour for the TPP, the secrecy farce continues. On RNZ this morning, Trade Minister Tim Groser said he looks forward to the day when he can take the covers off ,… ...

Press Release – Green Party Tim Groser should not let his personal stake in the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) negotiations supersede the best interests of the New Zealand public, said the Green Party today.3 August 2015 Groser’s emotions should… ...

Article – Jordan McCluskey We are a nation of traders. New Zealand is a country that has, since its colonisation, been dependent on foreign trade to support our economy. Extractive industries came first for the Kauri, then gold, then whale… ...

Press Release – Grey Power New Zealand It is long past time the New Zealand Government took the people into its confidence and explained their position on the TPPA. There is a lot of information floating about through leaks… ...

Press Release – Democrats for Social Credit The Prime Minister and the Trade Negotiations Minister have been handed a golden opportunity to shore up flagging support for the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement, says Democrats for Social Credit Deputy Leader,… ...

Press Release – NewsRoom_Plus 1. Police shot and killed a man last night in Myers Park in Auckland. A large marquee has been put up to protect the scene which remains cordoned off. The Independent Police Conduct Authority has been… ...

Since 1984 we have opened our borders to the global market. It is something many have accepted and become accustomed to, yet is still disputed as either the harbinger of capital and posterity, or the degradation of utility for the… ...

Quick March, journal of the Returned Soldiers Association who made support for the White New Zealand policy their number one platform plank by Philip Ferguson Chinese numbers in New Zealand dropped through the 1890s and the first decade of the twentieth… ...

Back around the mid-1990s a number of left publications here ran an article by longtime left activist Peter Lusk about his six months on the dryer line at ‘iconic’ NZ company Fisher & Paykel’s Auckland factory. Peter’s article vividly portrayed… ...

Mike Hosking is an opinionated chap. He’s paid an enormous sum of money to be opinionated, not only as a breakfast talk-back host on the ZB network, but as a Herald columnist and the co-host of TVNZ’s Seven Sharp.… ...

Now that the Maui Ministerial has failed to reach a conclusion, we believe it is time to ensure our Prime Minister and Trade Minister know that kiwis do not want this deal. Send them a letter below! TPPA?… ...

In September last year, David Parker laid a complaint with the Police about a supposed “hack” of the Labour Party website by Whaleoil blogger Cameron Slater. On Friday, Police released a letter explaining that their investigation was over, and they… ...

Via RNZ: Another TPP meeting, another failure to reach agreement. Yet the words used to describe the negotiations did not, once again, talk of defeat. Instead, the joint statement by the TPP Ministers said: “We have made significant progress and… ...

. . Continued from: The slow dismantling of a populist prime minister Amidst the latest scandal swirling around this increasingly desperate National government, the chaos at Serco-run Mt Eden prison is just the latest in a long line of ministerial… ...

The Debunking Handbook is now available in Indonesian. Many thanks to Herendraswari Kusumawardani who did this 10th(!) translation of the handbook. Note to other translators:If you'd like to translate the Debunking Handbook into another language, please contact us (select "Enquiry about… ...

Speech – New Zealand First Party This is Maori Language Week and there is a Maori proverb that should be at the front of every politicians mind.2 AUGUST 2015 New Zealand First Leader and Member of Parliament for Northland Rt… ...

Press Release – TPPA Auckland Call to Action Group The stalling of yesterdays TPPA negotiations in Maui provide light relief for the citizens of New Zealand, but we cannot be complacent in thinking that our Government will not continue on… ...

Police Commissioner Mike Bush on Friday announced that tasers will be deployed for the use of all front-line officers. The reasoning behind tasers emphasises the taser’s potential for de-escalation — a “less-than-lethal” alternative to shooting someone — sometimes on the… ...

Press Release – TVNZ CORIN Mr Groser, can you give us a sense of how disappointing this is that you didnt reach an agreement this week?Q + AEpisode 23TIM GROSER Interviewed by CORIN DANN CORIN Mr Groser, can you… ...

Press Release – New Zealand First Party The TPPA was a botch-up from the start, says New Zealand First Leader and Member of Parliament for Northland Rt Hon Winston Peters.TPPA a botch-up from the start The TPPA was a botch-up… ...

An 18 month old Palestinian toddler is burned to death. The parents of Ali Saad Dawabsheh and 4 yr old brother are in critical conditions with burns up fo 70 % of their bodies. Are we horrified? Well most of… ...

Greece is facing a depression on a scale arguably comparable to the US Great Depression of the late 1920s. Huge unemployment rates and a dramatic drop in family incomes of over 40 percent have Greek citizens pondering what the impacts will be… ...

Image credit: Rachel Knowles – Successful blogging workshop Big problems with Sitemeter The problems with SiteMeter are still bad this month. No data could be obtained for about 50 blogs using SiteMeter. People have also reported strange results. So if… ...

The post-Maui Ministerial Press Conference is just wrapping up, where Ministers yet again were unable to conclude a deal. The Press Conference was heavy on platitudes but light on detail of actual progress, with Ministers trailing out the oft-repeated mantras around… ...

If New York can make most of Central Park car free, then why can’t we do the same with the Domain. That was my thought when watching this video from Streetfilms. Last week, people walking and biking on the Central… ...

Grim Faces And Patriotic Words: With a few, well-chosen, words, Key could place the 2017 General Election beyond the Opposition’s grasp. The Left has been clamouring for New Zealand’s negotiators to reject the TPPA in its current form. But… ...

. . On 14 December, 2010, there was great excitement and jubilation in the Beehive when then-Corrections Minister Judith Collins announced; “This Government is committed to a world-class Corrections system in New Zealand. To achieve that, we must have access… ...

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The news that Tiwai Point Aluminium smelter will remain open is good news for the 800 workers at the plant and the people of Southland, but points to a need for a comprehensive regional development strategy, Opposition leader Andrew Little… ...

Failure to get the TPP agreement across the line gives New Zealanders an opportunity to put more pressure on the Government not to sign away our sovereignty, Opposition leader Andrew Little says.“New Zealand land, dairy and medicines are up for… ...

After failing to protect the right to stop foreign speculators buying our houses it’s clear the Government is not going to get wins on dairy in their TPP negotiations either, Labour’s Trade and Export spokesperson David Parker says. “Labour has… ...

Yesterday the Rich List showed the number of people who have over 50 million of wealth had increased by another 15 people since last year. Collectively this group are now worth 55 billion, an increase of over 7% since last… ...

Yesterday the Rich List showed the number of people who have over 50 million of wealth had increased by another 15 people since last year. Collectively this group are now worth 55 billion, an increase of over 7% since last… ...

Yesterday the Rich List showed the number of people who have over 50 million of wealth had increased by another 15 people since last year. Collectively this group are now worth 55 billion, an increase of over 7% since last… ...

Former Social Development Minister Paula Bennett has been thrown under the bus by her successor after its been suggested that Ms Bennett gave the green light to an ‘unethical’ observational study of high-risk children, Labour Children’s spokesperson Jacinda Ardern says.… ...

Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the Draft Transition Recovery Plan on behalf of the New Zealand Labour Party. It is important that the citizens of Canterbury have a voice in the governance of the next step of… ...

Yesterday the Government released the cabinet paper on progress on the work programme of the Ministerial Group on Family Violence and Sexual Violence. Along with the Human Rights Commissioner and Women’s Refuge, I really welcome the report. I’m relieved that… ...

Yesterday the Government released the cabinet paper on progress on the work programme of the Ministerial Group on Family Violence and Sexual Violence. Along with the Human Rights Commissioner and Women’s Refuge, I really welcome the report. I’m relieved that… ...

In 2010, National rammed the Electoral (Disqualification of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill through Parliament. Paul Quinn’s Member’s Bill existed because Paul Quinn thought anyone who’d been imprisoned was a serious offender, and serious offenders had ‘forfeited’ their right to vote.… ...

The Government has been given a serve by New Zealand-based international trucking and logistics firm Mainfreight which says it lacks a national transport strategy, and has treated rail badly, Labour's Transport spokesperson Phil Twyford says. The company has told shareholders it… ...

The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions is embarking on a campaign to fight the changes that weaken the Health and Safety Reform bill. As part of the campaign the CTU has organised vigils with the display of 291 crosses… ...

Farmers must be given every assurance that all potential risks have been considered before Silver Fern Farms opens its door to foreign equity, Labour’s Primary Industries spokesperson Damien O’Connor says. “The ongoing saga involving the meat sector and amalgamation has… ...

Labour has moved to have the second flag referendum canned if the first attracts fewer than half the eligible number of voters, Opposition Leader Andrew Little says. “John Key has already wasted more than $8 million on his vanity project… ...

New figures obtained by Labour show the ACC Minister’s botched motor vehicle levy system has resulted in 90,000 vehicles having to be reclassified so far – at a cost of $6 million, Labour’s ACC spokesperson Sue Moroney says. “Nikki Kaye’s… ...

Chronic under-funding by National has seen the health budget slashed by $1.7 billion in just five years, Labour’s Health spokesperson Annette King says. A report by Infometrics, commissioned by Labour, shows health funding has been cut in four of the… ...

The news that two Serco inmates have been arrested for helping to run a methamphetamine ring from prison should be the final straw and see their contract cancelled, says Labour’s Corrections Spokesperson Kelvin Davis. “National has stood by Serco despite… ...

A proposal being considered by the Government would see some people having to pay more for health care and district health boards forced to fight amongst themselves to fund regional health services, Labour’s Health spokesperson Annette King says “Information leaked… ...

The trouble with the Charter school model is that it is a publicly funded experiment on children. The National Government has consistently put its desire to open charter schools ahead of the safety of the children in them, ignoring repeated… ...

News that an unnamed bank in Ashburton has put a receiver on notice over financially vulnerable farmers will send a chill through rural New Zealand, says Labour’s Finance Spokesperson Grant Robertson. “The Government needs to work with New Zealand’s banks… ...

John Key yesterday admitted what National dishonestly refused to confirm in Parliament last week – he is trading away New Zealand’s right to control who buys our homes and land, says Opposition leader Andrew Little. “The Prime Minister must now… ...

Plans by the Government to take a scalpel to democratically elected health boards are deceitful and underhand, coming just months after an election during which they were never signalled, Labour’s Health spokesperson Annette King says “Leaked documents reveals a radical… ...

Corrections Spin Doctors sending their place holder lines to journalists instead of responding to serious allegations shows the scale of chaos at the department over the Serco scandal, says Labour’s Corrections Spokesperson Kelvin Davis. “As more and more serious allegations… ...

A High Court ruling that a law banning prisoners from voting is inconsistent with a properly functioning democracy should be a wake-up call for the Government, Labour’s Justice spokesperson Jacinda Ardern says. In an unprecedented ruling Justice Paul Heath has… ...

Congratulations are due to the Problem Gambling Foundation (PGFNZ) who have won their legal case around how the Ministry of Health decided to award their contracts for problem gambling services to another service provider. Congratulations are due not just for&hellip; ...

This week, the Environmental Protection Authority Amendment Bill passed its first reading in Parliament. The Bill puts protection of the environment into the core purpose of the Environmental Protection Authority. This month, Dr Allan Freeth, the former Chief Executive of… ...

The killing of a security guard on his first night on the job is exactly the kind of incident that National’s watered-down health and safety bill won’t prevent, says Te Atatu MP Phil Twyford. The coronial inquest into 22-year-old Charanpreet… ...

Increasing numbers of single parents are being penalised under a regime that is overly focussed on sanctions rather than getting more people into work, Labour’s Social Development spokesperson Carmel Sepuloni says. “Figures, obtained through Parliamentary questions show 3000 more sanctions,… ...

Hekia Parata’s decision to keep troubled Whangaruru Charter school open despite being presented with a catalogue of failure defies belief, goes against official advice and breaks a Government promise to close these schools if they were failing, says Labour’s Education… ...

Yesterday I attended the launch of a new initiative developed by and for Asian, Middle eastern and African youth to support young people to name and get support if there is domestic violence at home. The impact on children of… ...

The Government’s handling of the Problem Gambling Foundation’s axing in a cost-cutting exercise has been ham-fisted and harmful to some of the most vulnerable people in society, Associate Health Labour spokesperson David Clark says.“Today’s court ruling overturning the axing of… ...

The Labour Party will not support the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement unless key protections for New Zealanders are met, Opposition leader Andrew Little says.“Labour supports free trade. However, we will not support a TPP agreement that undermines New Zealand’s sovereignty. ...

Resident doctors have advised that a severe staffing shortage at North Shore Hospital is putting patients’ lives at risk, Labour’s Health spokesperson Annette King says. “They say a mismatch between staffing levels and patient workloads at North Shore has… ...

Six months’ paid parental leave is back on the agenda and a step closer to reality for Kiwi parents after Labour’s new Member’s Bill was pulled from today’s ballot, the Bill’s sponsor and Labour MP Sue Moroney says. “My Bill… ...

New requirements for sole parents to undertake a reapplication process after a year is likely to mean a large number will face benefit cancellations, but not because they have obtained work, Labour’s Social Development spokesperson Carmel Sepuloni says. “Increasing numbers… ...

Last week the government’s major initiative to combat child poverty (a paltry $25 increase) was exposed for what it is, a lie. The Government, through the Budget this year, claims to be engaging in the child poverty debate, but instead,… ...

The Reserve Bank's decision to cut the Official Cash Rate to 3 per cent shows there is no encore for the so-called 'rock star' economy, says Labour's Finance Spokesperson Grant Robertson. "Today's interest rate cut comes off the back… ...

In my short 33 years on this planet we’ve seen phenomenal technological, economic and social change, and it’s realistic to expect the next 33 will see even more, even faster change. You can see it in the non-descript warehouse near… ...

A Bill that puts the environment squarely into legislation governing the Environmental Protection Authority passed its first reading today, says Meka Whaitiri. “I introduced this member’s bill as the current law doesn’t actually make protecting the environment a goal of… ...

KiwiSaver statistics released today expose John Key's claim that the cutting of the kickstart payment "will not make a blind bit of difference to the number of people who join KiwiSaver” to be duplicitous, says Labour Finance Spokesperson Grant Robertson. “Official… ...

All New Zealanders should be treated fairly at work. Currently, the law allows non-employment relationships to be used to get around the minimum wage. This is unfair, says Labour MP David Parker. “The Minimum Wage (Contractor Remuneration) Amendment Bill, a… ...

The Government’s rubber-stamping of every one of the nearly 400 applications from overseas investors to buy New Zealand farm land over the last three years proves tougher laws are needed, Labour MP Phil Goff says. “In the last term of… ...

John Key must ditch the flag referendum before any more taxpayer money is wasted, Opposition Leader Andrew Little says. “Millions of dollars could be saved if the Prime Minister called a halt to this hugely expensive, and highly unpopular, vanity… ...

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The Coalition of Selwyn Supporters will hold a public meeting Wednesday 5th August 7pm, at Pt Chevalier Primary School Auditorium to call on the Selwyn Foundation to lead the way in aged care by paying a Living Wage to their… ...

For 19 people in West Auckland, home is living and sleeping on the streets of Waitakere. Their story and the circumstances of their life is captured in the latest report of The Salvation Army, “Hard Times”. The report details an… ...

For 19 people in West Auckland, home is living and sleeping on the streets of Waitakere. Their story and the circumstances of their life is captured in the latest report of The Salvation Army, “Hard Times”. The report details an… ...

It is long past time the New Zealand Government took the people into its confidence and explained their position on the TPPA. There is a lot of information floating about through leaks on Wikileaks etc but our elected representative along… ...

It is long past time the New Zealand Government took the people into its confidence and explained their position on the TPPA. There is a lot of information floating about through leaks on Wikileaks etc but our elected representative along… ...

It is long past time the New Zealand Government took the people into its confidence and explained their position on the TPPA. There is a lot of information floating about through leaks on Wikileaks etc but our elected representative along… ...

Te Kaha And Endeavour Berth in Auckland The Royal New Zealand Navy frigate HMNZS TE KAHA and tanker HMNZS ENDEAVOUR returned to the Devonport Naval Base this morning after being deployed since early this year. The ships entered Auckland harbour… ...

“The Prime Minister and the Trade Negotiations Minister have been handed a golden opportunity to shore up flagging support for the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement”, says Democrats for Social Credit Deputy Leader, Chris Leitch. ...

In commemoration of the one year anniversary of the murder of nearly 2000 captive Palestinians in Gaza, taxpayers will today picket the NZ Superfund office to oppose the investment of New Zealanders money into companies which profit off Israel’s ...

The Human Rights Commission is preparing to intervene in a Bible in Schools case in the High Court in Auckland, and this could even up the odds in what was shaping up to be a David v Goliath battle. ...

The stalling of yesterday’s TPPA negotiations in Maui provide light relief for the citizens of New Zealand, but we cannot be complacent in thinking that our Government will not continue on signing our country up to a deal that may… ...

Everyone who has opposed the introduction of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) into their districts needs to be alarmed at the way central Government is moving to over-ride local council regulations about this matter, says Kelvin Davis, Labour ...

‘The “final” ministerial meeting on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) in Maui has failed. Not opting to stay another day shows the gridlock is serious and potentially intractable’, according to University of Auckland law professor ...

Retailers will be pleased by news reports that Revenue Minister Todd McClay is taking a paper to Cabinet this month that will allow New Zealand retailers to compete on a fair basis with foreign websites by substantially reducing the threshold… ...

Lisa Owen: Now, changing tack now. Nancy Gibbs is the first woman to lead the iconic Time magazine. What's more, she's leading it into the digital age with her appointment in 2013, heralding a shake-up in the magazine's online offerings.… ...

Headlines: With sanctions being lifted on Iran, McCully says there are big opportunities for New Zealand businesses in Iran and some have been giving the market a lot of thought. “…the opportunities are significant in the short-term and even bigger… ...

Foreign Minister Murray McCully talks to Tova O’Brien in New York about what opportunities the Iran deal creates for New Zealand, whether the families of the MH17 victims will ever get justice, and he has stern words for the world’s… ...

The Pharmacy Guild of New Zealand (the Guild) is keen to learn more about how the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) will impact New Zealand’s health sector if it is accepted by the Government. ...

Secrecy of TPPA documents heads to court A legal challenge to the secrecy of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) negotiations will be launched in the High Court next week. An urgent application for judicial review will challenge Trade Minister ...

Navy Ships Arriving Home After Long Deployments The frigate HMNZS TE KAHA and tanker HMNZS ENDEAVOUR will arrive at the Devonport Naval Base in Auckland at 10am this Sunday 2 August, after long overseas deployments. Over 1100 family and friends… ...

Social Service Providers Aotearoa (SSPA) is concerned about the potential for a proposed study on new born children to go awry unless the paramountcy principle of commitment to the Care and Protection of Children is upheld. This commitment means that… ...

Responding to the report that Auckland’s Councillors and Mayor Len Brown look set for a 2.3 per cent pay increase, just days after voting to increase the average rates burden by 9.9 per cent, Ratepayers’ Alliance spokesperson, Carmel Claridge, says: ...

Responding to the report that Auckland’s Councillors and Mayor Len Brown look set for a 2.3 per cent pay increase, just days after voting to increase the average rates burden by 9.9 per cent, Ratepayers’ Alliance spokesperson, Carmel Claridge, says: ...

Responding to the report that Auckland’s Councillors and Mayor Len Brown look set for a 2.3 per cent pay increase, just days after voting to increase the average rates burden by 9.9 per cent, Ratepayers’ Alliance spokesperson, Carmel Claridge, says: ...

After 3 years of legal battle the government has now agreed to make full offers to commercial and vacant land owners whose properties were illegally red-zoned. However it decided to single out self-insured homeowners and offers nothing for their homes. ...

Strong response to Draft Transition Recovery Plan The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) has started analysing more than 2500 written comments received on the transition of recovery arrangements in greater Christchurch. The Recovery Plan ...

Heard you were able to get back to your dad’s turangawaewae last week. Mean … hope you had a good catch up with the whanau. I also hear you’re getting ready to endorse the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), and I’m… ...

The family of Lecretia Seales has decided not to appeal the High Court decision in the case of Seales v. Attorney General released to the public by Justice Collins last month on June 5th. Ms Seales passed away several hours… ...

Auckland’s only centre-right Mayoral candidate Stephen Berry says in light of massive rates increases it is inappropriate for the Mayor or any Councillors to be accepting a pay increase. “I propose that until such time as the Council passes a… ...

Predictive risk model in the prevention of child abuse – UNICEF NZ urges caution Research and testing of a predictive risk model to assist in identifying and responding to children at risk of child abuse is important work but must… ...

"Dow AgroSciences, Fonterra and Methanex are three named sponsors of Taranaki Regional Council's Environmental Awards. Their sponsorships makes a total mockery of these awards. This is akin to a weapons manufacturer sponsoring a peace scholarship" ...

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll. Source: Professor Jane Kelsey. Professor Jane Kelsey. ‘The “final” ministerial meeting on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) in Maui… ...

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll. Statement of Lori Wallach, Director, Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch – Yet Another ‘Final’ TPP Ministerial and Again No Deal; Not… ...

Michael Woodhouse. Image courtesy of TheStandard.org.nz. Analysis by Keith Rankin. This article was also published on TheDailyBlog.co.nz. On Q+A (TVNZ) on 12 July, Michael Woodhouse, Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety discussed ‘Zero-Hour’ labour contracts as a subset… ...

Report by NewsroomPlus.com MGSM Release: Sydney and Melbourne property prices have grown at more than 15 per cent per annum over the last three years, outperforming any other Australian markets and creating a bubble, says Nobel Prize winning economist Professor… ...

Report by NewsroomPlus.comNew Zealanders love their holidays and according to recent data released by Statistics NZ, last month alone 198,800 kiwis took a vacation. For the year ending June 2015, over 2.3 million New Zealanders left New Zealand to… ...

Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards. Dr Bryce Edwards. Should we celebrate the super rich in New Zealand or see their growing wealth as a cause of inequality and division? The publication of the NBR’s latest annual Rich List… ...

This edition of NewsRoom_Digest features 7 resourceful links of the day and the politics pulse from Friday 31st July.NEWSROOM_MONITORTop stories in the current news cycle include the progress of the controversial controversial Health and Safety Reform Bill… ...

Source: Professor Jane Kelsey. Professor Jane Kelsey. A legal challenge to the secrecy of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) negotiations will be launched in the High Court next week.An urgent application for judicial review will challenge Trade… ...

Source:Smokefreerockquest – Nelson Media Agency – Press Release/Statement: Headline: SMOKEFREEROCKQUEST 2015 NATIONAL FINALISTS ANNOUNCEDThe top nine Smokefreerockquest national finalists were announced today, the crème of the 700 bands and solo/duos who entered the nationwide youth music contest this year.Contenders… ...

Report by NewsroomPlus.comContributed by Amanda CarringtonWellington celebrated a milestone last weekend, reaching 150 years as New Zealand’s capital. Thousands of Wellingtonians were enticed to explore the many churches, universities, museums and government buildings the city has to offer. But… ...

Report by NewsroomPlus.comThe speech text below was used by Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully used to open the Open Debate: Peace and security challenges facing Small Island Developing States, at the UN Security Council, July 30, 2015 (New York… ...

This edition of NewsRoom_Digest features 6 resourceful links of the day and the politics pulse from Thursday 30th July.NEWSROOM_MONITORTop stories in the current news cycle include information showing that Social Development Minister Anne Tolley has confined anew… ...

Analysis by Keith Rankin. This article was also published on Scoop.co.nz.On Morning Report on Friday (24 July), I heard the following exchange between Guyon Espiner and Finance Minister, Bill English.Guyon Espiner: “So what’s the good bit about allowing… ...

Source: Scope Media – PERRIAM. Merino sheep being mustered on Bendigo Station overlooking, Lake Dunstan. Luxury merino fashion brand PERRIAM has been selected for a special showcase on wool in fashion at the prestigious New Zealand Fashion Week… ...

…he can do anything he wants….his suit is 100% NASA-engineered teflon & stuff… …so it’s been such an amazing run that el presidente recently decided on a make over and costuming – because he can…because he can do what… ...

Political roundup by Dr Bryce Edwards Dr Bryce Edwards. $100,000 a year to imprison a person is a lot of money. That’s the striking figure at the centre of the current prison scandal and debate, in a country… ...

This edition of NewsRoom_Digest features 5 resourceful links of the day and the politics pulse from Wednesday 29th July.NEWSROOM_MONITORTop stories in the current news cycle include the possibility of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade talks coming… ...

Investigation by Carolyn Skelton.Negative side effects of isotretinoinIn my research of the acne last resort drug, isotretinoin, I came across a couple of issues related to the impact of Big Pharma, Pharmac, and potential impacts of the TPP.… ...

This edition of NewsRoom_Digest features 5 resourceful links of the day and the politics pulse from Tuesday 28th July.NEWSROOM_MONITOR Top stories in the current news cycle include more leaked documents that show the funding of District Health Boards… ...

Analysis by Keith Rankin – This article was also published on Scoop.co.nz.In response to my Money, Flow and Debt (Daily Blog and Evening Report, 25 July 2015) one reader responded to my comments about money hoarding and compensatory debt&hellip; ...

Source: Hot Topic – By Gareth Renowden – Analysis published with permission of Hot-Topic.co.nz Headline: A tale of two hemispheres At the end of June, Professor Jim Renwick of Victoria University gave his inaugural lecture. As you might expect of… ...

This edition of NewsRoom_Digest contains 9 links for the day from Monday 27th July.Top stories in the current news cycle include concerns over a leaked document that reportedly shows the Government plans an overhaul to the governance of… ...

This edition of NewsRoom_Digest contains 9 links for the day from Monday 27th July.Top stories in the current news cycle include concerns over a leaked document that reportedly shows the Government plans an overhaul to the governance of… ...

Source: Asia Pacific Lawyers Network.“Evidence is mounting of increasing numbers of internet romantics and international travellers risking their lives after being deceived, coerced and ultimately exploited by sophisticated international drug cartels,” New Zealand death penalty defence… ...

…exactly when am i a journalist? …the hager case has raised some big issues…is it time to professionalise journalism? …personally i think the hand-writing a tag or a name sticker that says “reporter” is the standard we should… ...

Eyes of Fire (fifth edition) launched Friday July 10, 2015. Opinion piece by Professor David Robie of AUT’s School of Communication Studies – David travelled on board the Rainbow Warrior for 10 weeks before the bombing and wrote the book&hellip; ...

Analysis by Keith Rankin – This article was also published on TheDailyBlog.co.nz.To sort out our intransigent economic problems, ordinary people need to understand how things actually work today and how things do not work. The peasants need to challenge… ...

Report by Alistar Kata – Pacific Media Centre/Pacific Media Watch.AUCKLAND (Pacific Media Watch): Most audiences are used to seeing Wairere Tame Iti as the Māori activist, who most notably shot the Australian flag at a 2005 Waitangi Tribunal… ...

This edition of NewsRoom_Digest contains 8 media release snippets and 4 links for the day of Friday 24th July.Top stories in the current news cycle include more concerns about effects of the Government’s tougher welfare policy and the… ...

Report by NewsroomPlus.com – Contributed by Olexander BarnesWellington is the city where the vampire film “What we do in the Shadows” takes place, but there are more dangers on our streets than just vampires. Living Streets Aotearoa and the Urban Design… ...

Report by NewsroomPlus.comIt may be a fact of the news cycle that Thursday night’s release of research focused on asthma health literacy for Māori children in New Zealand – He Māramatanga Huangō – wasn’t destined to make the 6pm bulletin.… ...

Report by NewsroomPlus.comContributed by Amanda CarringtonNew research from a Victoria University professor shows a longer parole period will decrease the risk of prisoners reoffending. Psychology professor Devon Polaschek’s work Surviving the first year explores how prisoners who are… ...

Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup – The Housing apartheid problem Dr Bryce Edwards. There’s a social divide opening up in New Zealand cities, especially Auckland, over home ownership. But is the division about race or wealth? And what can… ...

Containing the impacts in NZ: Acne and isotretinoin IIIInvestigation by Carolyn Skelton.In my previous pieces I addressed problems with acne and a last resort anti-acne drug (isotretinoin); a drug which has tended towards being overused and under-regulated. Many… ...

Source: Royal New Zealand Ballet A magical world premiere from the RNZB – The Vodafone Season of A Midsummer Night’s DreamIn an unprecedented artistic coup the Royal New Zealand Ballet has commissioned one of the world’s most sought after choreographers… ...

This edition of NewsRoom_Digest contains 8 media release snippets and 5 links for the day of Thursday 23rd July.Top stories in the current news cycle include a report from ACClaim Otago, a support group for injured people that… ...

Report by NewsroomPlus.comContributed by Olexander BarnesDebates on issues like euthanasia deserve the widest possible audience. It was fitting then that the lecture hall in the Otago campus next to Wellington hospital was packed full of people, all eager to… ...

Source: Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand New Civil Aviation Rules for unmanned aircraft coming into force next week will improve aviation safety for operators, other airspace users and people and property. Civil Aviation Rule Part 102… ...

Source:Reserve Bank of New Zealand Reserve Bank Governor Graeme Wheeler announced this morning that the Reserve Bank has reduced the Official Cash Rate (OCR) by 25 basis points to 3.0 percent.Graeme Wheeler said the global economic growth remains moderate,… ...

Peter Godfrey and Selwyn Manning. Selwyn Manning and Australian radio station FiveAA’s Peter Godfrey deliver their weekly bulletin, Across The Ditch. This week New Zealand’s Corrections Minister Sam Lotu-Inga under pressure to resign after scandalous and tragic… ...

This edition of NewsRoom_Digest contains 8 media release snippets and 4 links for the day of Tuesday 22nd July.Top stories in the current news cycle include Parliament unanimously passing legislation to fix a legal loophole that would have… ...

From The Virtual Desk of Ant Timpson. It all started with a synopsis and a poster submitted to a film competition. From 500 submissions, one winner emerged victorious. The filmmaker’s name was Jason Lei Howden and his winning idea was… ...